Devil May Cry, Angel Tears
by Himax
Summary: updated Sept. 24 06 Everyone knows Hell is out there. But is heaven? An attempt at a complete sequal to the games with a strict adherance to existing plot. May include cribnotes to gameplay concepts


Devil May Cry, Angel Tears

C.G.

Is pain the only real emotion?

Is power the only justification for life?

Is it possible for anything in the world to exist outside of just what we see and touch? I have asked myself these questions many times. Only now, after years of searching, do I realize I may never know their answer. I may never be able to understand a concept of faith.

This story begins long before mine. This is the story of human endurance, the oxymoron, as recorded in history through a dark study the Vatican calls the "Library of Forbidden books". This study was meant as a twisted attempt to provide false hope to the masses while preserving a truth no one can escape. I had to fight my way there to find it. I wanted the truth.

Hell is real, always watching. Devils are real too. I have seen them. I want to fight them, monsters formed from the darkest of human nightmares. Or maybe the opposite is true; maybe all we now as evil is shaped from what few glances these things have taken at our world. An alternate dimension filled with terrors bent upon our destruction or worse. Some records describing the things predate any religion. A few even hint at preceding humanity's ability to record. They vary greatly in their descriptions, not out of an inability for comprehension, but due to the sheer variety of these horrors. All those who ever tried any form of extensive study on devils has either gone mad, or met them. Some stories say they are mindless monsters. They rip there way into our world for brief stints at wreaking havoc before whatever mysterious force they utilized loses its grip and sends them hurtling back into the darkness. Others say they are quite intelligent, sending whispers into the minds of men. Sometimes they send promises of power meant to manipulate and corrupt. More often they send twisted visions meant to destroy the mind. Only one thing is unanimously certain: they want into our world. They want us. For what, no one can surmise. And we are powerless to stop them.

The Forbidden Library is housed within the innermost quarters of the Vatican. In order to find it I had to circumvent their entire security force, which as it turns out isn't very difficult if you stick to the rooftops.

Every faith speaks of a counterbalance to Hell, an equal and opposite force meant to provide hope and comfort. This force is described as a notion of faith. It is a notion that if you believe in them, they will protect you. Angels. There are no records of angels. The closest report that exists is an account which states the origin of the word "Angel". This was a story where a demon took a bright shape adorned with pure white feathers to encourage an ancient roman legion to war. This was a practice highly frowned upon by other demons. They didn't want man to have a convoluted dream of salvation, regardless of how futile it may be. Devils that used this tactic were said to have been punished by being bound permanently into these forms.

I had to slide in through the window of the library itself. It was almost dusk and the red sunlight seeping through the windows gave a somewhat uncomfortable feeling to the place. The shelves were all lined up against one wall of the large room. A large wooden desk was set on the other side, meant more for sorting paperwork than reading.

Few scripts hint at the forces behind hells hunger. They offer scarce whispers of a single pure existence at hell's source. Only once was this force referred to with any kind of title; "Despair". Still other texts mention a mind to hells ambitions. They mention a dark king thirsting not just for destruction, but enslavement. This king wishes to be mankind's god. It was he who first enabled the ability for devils to manifest in our world. And it was he who once opened a gateway strong enough for himself to enter. He took a human name reflecting his desire to consume the earth and all its inhabitants, the Latin word for "world", Mundus. This is the true history of our world, as stated by all those who have seen beyond it. We were never meant to exist. We were never meant to survive. We are too weak to deserve a destiny, and we were meant to die…

I originally planned on searching for a few specific texts and then making a hasty retreat. The library wasn't exactly guarded, but I didn't want to risk getting caught by a paper filer on a surprise errand. Unfortunately, I always had a certain fondness for libraries and old books. My curiosity got the better of me and I didn't even bother to think of the time until I had a large pile of opened tomes scattered across the table around me.

We should have died at the hands of these monstrosities. And we would have two thousand years ago if not for the intervention of a powerful, merciful force. This force was not an angel or saint, but a terrifyingly powerful devil in itself; the legendary dark night, Sparda. Every text ever recorded concerning devils has had at least one reference to him. It is said he awoke to the concept of justice and took pity on humanity. He rebelled against his own kind for the sake of the human race and fought his way to the very center of hell itself. A fierce war raged on earth and hell, and one solitary figure was all that stood a chance against the horde. And he won. Sparda saved our world and sealed hell off from earth at the source of its entry. But since he was a devil himself, a large portion of his own power was sealed there as well. He was rendered almost mortal. Little is recorded after this point outside of instances where demons may have found small loopholes allowing them temporary purchase in our world. Most bearing mention to a battle with Sparda. After saving our world he sought to stand silent guard over it. And for two thousand long years he did so. Only within our generation is the last entry of Sparda set. Apparently he settled down and took a human wife. He loved her very much cared for her greatly until his death. There is no mention as to how he died. There is only iron-hard corroboration of the fact. The sole protector of humanity, the legendary dark knight Sparda died. But not before leaving two sons, twin brothers. Dante and Virgil.

Most of the texts in the forbidden library are old manuscripts. The files on the brothers however are all held in plastic binders on the shelf closest to the door. The Vatican tried everything to get a hold of these boys. But their mother kept them well hidden. There is little to no data on her. I don't understand how the Vatican even knew she existed. They don't even have a picture or a name. They do on the other hand have detailed information about the boys themselves after the age of 17 or so.

The two boys looked entirely human. The only indication of their heritage was that they had clear white hair and silver eyes. There are many chronicled records of these two. They were raised alone by their mother. For their first five years they lived with some semblance of a normal human life. Even then it was readily apparent just what potential these two would have. Shortly after their fifth birthday they were attacked by devils, and their mother protected them by giving her own life. This single event sparked a distinct and separate chord within the destinies of both boys. Neither would truly ever be able to recover from their grief.

Dante turned to reveling in his own power and living life through his talents. Virgil obsessed over weakness and directed his every waking moment from then on to growing in strength. The two boys eventually separated and didn't see each other again for several years. An interesting woman I once met told me she knew the two brothers. They would meet once in a great while, and try to kill each other. From the way she described I can only surmise that this fighting was the only way these two could express their brotherhood. They still cared for each other, but their separate drives clashed so much that only by blood could they decide who had the better purpose or even to reaffirm their own. And they loved it that way.

A born showoff, Dante developed a fighting style revolving around a great deal of overly-stylized acrobatics in the use of a massive great sword his father was said to have kept. He also developed a sense of style for blood-red trench coats and an inclination for firearms. In the course of his travels he discovered an alchemic method for giving a firearm unlimited ammunition, at the cost of a great deal of stopping power. Dante never seemed to mind this tradeoff, being a great deal more interested in the theatrics of gun-slinging than efficiency. Nevertheless, he utilized weapons loaded in such a way with dramatic effectiveness. The greatest culminations of his tinkering were a pair of oversized, heavily modified .45 caliber pistols. One had flat, silver-toned finishing. The other had deep, jet black plating. Despite barely having the impact force of nine-millimeters, Dante's accuracy and speed behind the trigger made them fearsome weapons indeed. These twin weapons would in their own way become Dante's most identifying trademarks; Ebony and Ivory.

Virgil set himself to learning the discipline of the very sword their father used; an impressive katana called the Yamato. Out of whim, or maybe his only real act of petulance against his brother, Virgil took to wearing an indigo overcoat wherever he went. Virgil came to abhor the use of any weapon he felt was beneath him in his search for purity in combat. The only means of projectile attack he would utilize were those used by powerful devils; manifestations of will focused into a physical shape and directed at the enemy. Virgil chose dark, shadowy swords for this.

The clashing of the two brothers became the sole point of their interaction, each pushing the other to the extremes of their capability. But both were still at heart wounded little boys. Neither had gotten any closer to finding their place in the world. Maybe their fighting was directed toward this. Maybe part of what they were really fighting for was to see whose ideals were real. Unfortunately, like all things decided by blood, there was only one way this contest could end. The only mementos the brothers kept of their previous life were two ornate amulets the size of fists. They resembled roaring flames frozen in time with a large, red crystal mounted in the center. One was forged with silver and one with gold, and on the back of each was inscribed the names of both brothers. At the end of his studies, Virgil discovered how to use these to achieve his ultimate dream.

Vatican records state that the single most evil action ever wrought by man was orchestrated by a large group of fanatically insane nobles roughly two thousand years ago. These people devoted their entire legacies to the construction of a tremendous tower. This tower was said to have contained "forbidden machinations of exclusively demonic origin". It was an attempt to deliberately break the seal of Sparda. It was the cursed edifice to evil, Temen Ni-gru. Virgil found it over a decade ago. And with the aid of a scholar of the demonic history he activated it. This dark scholar was a man known only as Arkham.

Arkham had fallen to the same curse that forbidden knowledge had instilled in every other man who grew too curious of the dark arts. His eventual insanity led him to sacrifice his own wife in order to trade a piece of his humanity for demonic power. Now his face was marred with an evil mark; a mottled rust-brown growth showing just under the skin on the entire left side of his face. On inspection it was readily apparent that the mark was moving under his face on its own accord… His eyes, born one red and one blue, now show nothing but empty, consuming desire.

Dante had managed to obtain a small building in a particularly bad neighborhood of Midwest America, less than a block from his favorite bar. He was quickly establishing himself as a professional "freelance jack-of-all-trades". Now all that he would need was an office. His future appeared bright, as he was receiving calls even before he had gotten ready to open up shop. His first visitor however was Arkham. He casually surveyed the small studio apartment, littered with more extravagances than business equipment. He then told Dante that he was sent to deliver an invitation from his brother. With that said, he hurled Dante's desk at him and then vanished into thin air. Shortly after this a huge influx of devils was started. After a brief warm-up skirmish, Dante left his shop to see a gigantic tower come screaming out of the earth. Whole city blocks were wrought asunder by the catastrophe. And demons started streaming into the city. Dante had little concern for the devastation surrounding him. He considered the fight with his brother to be the only thing of interest. Inside this tower he encountered many terrors and obstacles. The strongest of the devils inside the tower were those confined within it when it was hidden from the world of man. This was the tower that held the seal of Sparda. And powerful guardians were set in place to see that no one ever tried to tamper with it. Dante faced and defeated almost all of these guardians. When defeated, these devils tended to behave in a strangely proud and honorable manner. Most even offered the remains of their powers to Dante, strengthening him in his travels.

But Dante was not the only one exploring this cursed place. An experienced devil hunter, a very interesting woman, was there as well. And she had her own quarry. Early in his explorations of the tower, Dante encountered an obscure but not openly hostile devil that referred to himself as Jester. He readily appeared the part. His ridiculous appearance as a clown garbed in black, and his quirky mannerisms, quickly got on Dante's nerves. However his ranting contained a great deal of useful information.

Halfway up the tower Dante met this woman, on her way down having been thrown off by Arkham. Like most devil hunters she had chosen her profession at a young age. Her mother was brutally sacrificed by her father in a hellish rite. The once gentle and kind man who led her family became a sadistic sociopath. She now hunted the man she once called "Papa", and all the devils she found along the way. She fervently hated the man who gave her her eyes, one blue and one red. Unlike most devil hunters, she had a strong chance of following her chosen path for years. She was about as tough as humans come. Her talents primarily focused on her phenomenal manual dexterity, reflexes, and marksmanship. The weapons she used most frequently were a small Russian designed machine-pistol, and a reliable handgun fit to the same ammunition. She was never known to wear any kind of armor but favored a kilt-like overskirt comprised entirely of police and military style ammo belts. From these she could pull any number of clips and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of grenades. The most distinguishing characteristics she had were her mode of transportation and her main weapon. She traveled the country on a custom built motorcycle. This crimson behemoth was heavily (and somewhat illegally) modified with compact jet boosters, tremendous storage space, and an obscenely powerful engine. Finally, her primary weapon reflected her rather nicely. It resembled a large bazooka with what appeared to be a bayonet on the front. This large blade was secured by a compact propulsion and winch system which allowed her to use the device as both a grappling hook and a harpoon. The hunter chose to give this weapon the name of her mother, engraved on its stock. _Kalina Ann_.

The meeting between these two could probably have gone better. Dante realized he may have trouble talking to her shortly after she shot him in the head. Dante's peculiar abilities include an incredible degree of fortitude. He doesn't slow down when injured unless his wounds become as serious as to threaten his life. And otherwise he regenerates lost tissue anywhere in his body at an alarming rate. He felt it was best to leave the lady to her own devices, and walked away muttering something about his luck with women.

The Vatican's records on this female hunter are limited only to her interactions with the demon brothers, and a few personal interviews with Vatican staff. They seem to have little interest in her, deeming her a "lost cause".

Eventually Dante found his way to the apex of the tower. Night had long since fallen and the moon shown full in the sky. He found Virgil patiently waiting on a great stone circle, almost as wide around as the tower itself and lined with seven tall statues of thin, disfigured dragons. Like all there meetings before, the brothers wasted a few moments with idle banter before formally fighting. They fought like they had always fought before. Virgil's overpowering stance and sheer force were counterbalanced by Dante's agility and fluidity with his massive blade. Halfway through the fight a mild squall set in. The brothers were equally balanced at their core. But Virgil wasn't tiring at the same pace as Dante, and the fight flowed to reflect that. Dante would dodge Virgil's massive swipes, and Virgil would casually deflect Dante's bullets with a twirl of his blade. Finally the two brothers charged each other and locked blades head on, both gasping for breath. Virgil then swatted Dante's sword from his grip and ran him straight through, jerking the blade out from his brother in a swift clean motion as he snapped Dante's amulet from his neck. The rain let up as Virgil turned away, allowing a steady pool of blood to spread around Dante. He remained immobile on the ground. Then his hand began to twitch. Virgil took three running steps to plunge Dante's own sword into his chest. He impaled Dante's torso completely and with enough force to imbed the blade into the stone underneath him. Virgil then casually slicked his hair back, and then turned to find Arkham waiting for him. As they turned to leave, something changes inside Dante's sword. The handle and crosspiece were decorated to resemble a close-mouthed skull with demon horns and empty eyes. Slowly Dante's hand began to tremble again, and with a quick flash the handle changed to an open-mouthed screaming skull, with a crimson light shining from its sockets. With this sudden transformation the sword rocketed out of the ground, and Dante flew the distance to his brother to impale his fist on Virgil's waiting blade. "So I see a devil in you has awakened as well." was all Virgil saw fit to say. Virgil chose to disregard his brother any further after this, and left Dante to faint from exhaustion after his display. When Dante awoke he became aware of one of the single most impacting changes he faced in his life. A force inside of him brought itself to bear, and from that moment onward Dante could tap into the deepest reaches of his heritage. And for short periods of time he could take on the powers, and to a limited degree appearance, of a great devil. He came to refer to this power as the Devil Trigger.

With his new-found abilities driving him beyond his limits, Dante continued his hunt for his brother and missing amulet. At what could only be described as the rear entrance to the tower he once again met up with the devil hunter. Rather than continue their previous argument, they set to cooperating in a battle with a sudden devil onslaught. During the confrontation Dante asked the woman her name, and learned that the woman had simply refused to have one. He felt too preoccupied with his current endeavors and dismissed her to deal with the remainder of the enemy. In doing so he inadvertently gave her the name she would choose to use for the rest of her future; "Whatever, Lady". These two came to pique each others curiosities with their motivations. Lady was driven by a purpose, while Dante was simply drifting through life without a care in the world.

At the center of the tower, Virgil and Arkham had succeeded in opening the last door to their goal. It was then that Virgil decided to simply kill Arkham rather than continue to deal with his despicable demeanor. Virgil set the ritual in motion and sat to wait for its fruition; which didn't come. The mechanisms simply wouldn't activate. He had assembled all the pieces but couldn't undo the seal. He started to pace in agitation and fume over his agitation until Dante arrived. Once more the two brothers fought, this time on an equal ground. They fought fiercely, both willing to let this be their last confrontation. But their battle was interrupted by both Lady and Arkham. Arkham had faked his death at Virgil's hands and then ambushed Lady, knocking her windless. The battle of the two brothers had left them both to weak to withstand him. With all his enemies at their knees, Arkham casually explained that he had manipulated all three of them toward his plans. Not only where the brothers and their amulets required for the ritual, but so was his daughter's blood. She was a descendant of an ancient priestess. This priestess was heir to the darkest secret of Sparda. When he created the seal, he sacrificed a human woman to do so. Wounding Lady with her own weapon, Arkham took her blood and used it to undo the seal. The true purpose of the tower was activated then, transforming its interior. Across his journey through Temen ni-gru, Dante had encountered a number of large bells carved to imitate collections of skeletal angels bound in chains, gnashing at themselves and each other. With the mechanisms of the giant clock tower grinding to life, these bells were brought to the roof, to the place where brothers first fought. Here they were connected to the disfigured dragon statues and left in place, as if ready to toll at any moment…

Virgil had simply vanished after the incident. There are no more records of him, of any kind, after this point. And with him gone, so was Dante's reason to stay. Lady however still had her hunt. Dante questioned her about this. She would only say that it was a family matter, nothing a demon would understand. Something else in Dante changed after this encounter. And it may have been only out of whim, but he decided to stay and pursue Arkham as well. This was the first instance in Dante's life where he had actually tried to pursue a specific goal. And he simply didn't know what to make of it. Dante then left the tower to seek a new route upward. And outside he found lady's motorcycle, a serviceable shortcut to halfway up the tower.

I don't know how long I was there, reading through all those files. But I could feel a certain cold understanding from them. People truly believe that this world is doomed. We go to an almost ludicrous length to discredit the existence of any kind of hope. There is a solid belief in the faith they preach. But even then the faith is based solely on the hope of redemption after death. They pray for a heaven to save them from the horrors of having to be alive. I just can't understand why. I think I was fidgeting then too. As long as I can remember, whenever I'm left idle I tend to fidget with the small amulet I carry with me. A palm-sized silver piece resembling two gentle wings wrapped around a teardrop blue gemstone.

At the last stretch before the top floor, Dante and Lady met up again in the tower's library. Here the final change in Dante's destiny took hold. He told Lady that this situation was not one that a human could handle. He told her to back down. She refused. These two where as close to kindred spirits as a human and a devil could be, even despite the absolute contrast of their motives. They both felt too strongly for what they believed, so they fought. Unlike all the monsters Dante had had battled before, Lady was only human. As such she could only take a limited amount of punishment. This was balanced out however by her agile defending with her weapon. Dante couldn't land a solid blow on her, and she still had enough ammo left to more than riddle him with fire. She was also able to use her harpoon to grapple herself across large distances quickly, while leaving a handful of armed grenades in her wake. The library ended up completely destroyed by their conflict. In the end, Lady started to succumb to her limp and propped herself against a wall, firing wildly at Dante as he calmly walked up to her and pinned her arm against the wall above her. "It's okay. I'll take care of it" This was when Dante finally decided on what kind of man he would be. He finally chose what path to take in life.

Arkham set himself at the apex of the tower and finished the ritual. The great bells started to toll, and the sky itself turned crimson as a huge eye opened in the zenith over the tower. This portal led to the final edge of the event horizon—the last barrier between earth and hell. Arkham ascended into this eye to claim the power of Sparda, his true goal. Dante arrived and followed him shortly after. No one knows what happened after this point except that the seal was in fact broken. And from then onward all demonic activity increased the world over-- Permanently. Eventually Dante descended from the portal, closing it behind him. With him he carried a different sword, a plain greatsword with a triangular hilt design.

Vatican records have little info on that blade. It is called the Force Edge. Supposedly it was meant to be a physical representation of the power that Sparda sealed away. There is no record of how Dante used this blade. I only know of it through the ranting of a street mercenary I tracked down on my travels. I have been researching devils for quite some time, and the one name that kept popping up was "Dante". When questioned, most of the sources I found would only remark how they didn't know anyone "as crazy or as skilled". I had no idea how much info was just rumor, and how much was actually true until I found out that the Vatican had files on him.

There are records hinting at two more occasions where Dante came face to face with hell. Both of which suggest that he has literally saved the world. However, there were no eyewitnesses, and therefore very little information could be obtained. One of these instances involved the total destruction of Mallet Island, a small island off the coast of Scotland. This island home to an old English castle, totally abandoned for the last two hundred years. This castle was left strangely derelict by local authorities. I often wonder why no historical societies were interested in this place. In fact there are absolutely no records of any kind pertaining to the island or its history. Most maps didn't even chart it.

Local records state that an odd looking man and woman chartered a boat to the island, and six hours later what could only be described as an "atomic blast" tore the island clean off the map. There are no other records concerning the event except for a tourist photo of the resulting mushroom cloud. Vatican records contain a digitally enhanced version of the photo where you can barely make out what appears to be a red bi-plane flying away from the island. The other incident received a great deal more public scrutiny. The alleged "great earthquake" which shook a few central European countries to its core a few years back was actually a tremendous influx of demons. Vatican records state that the wealthy owner of a powerful multi-conglomerate, which was oddly nameless in their records, attempted to tear a hole into hell itself. The interference of Dante, and one other devil hunter, foiled this plan. There is very little known about this other hunter. There is a grainy security photo depicting a woman with dark skin and bright read hair braided down her back. The file containing this photo is titled "Arcia".


End file.
